A probe has been launched into the deaths of six firefighters killed in a blaze on Sunday, uMgungundlovu Mayor Mzi Zuma said yesterday while visiting the scene of the tragedy.

He added that government seeks assurances that private entities providing firefighting services are properly accredited and capacitated.

The six firefighters from Famusa, a contracting company that provides Sappi with firefighting services, lost their lives while battling a runaway fire, allegedly started by poachers, along the R617 near Boston and Mpophomeni in KZN.

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